The Verdict - Week 19

We are home, we are home, we are home!  I am HAPPY about that!  I will update my family blog soon with the details on Parker, but the road to recovery is what we are on, praise God!  I will also think about a goal this week as I obviously did not post Mini Goal Monday yesterday.  Suggestions??

Last week food journaling worked really well for me.  I was planning on having one of my best weeks yet and although it's still a good one, the minor hospital stay may or may not have caused me to have a late night picnic of junkish food once Parker was out for the night on Sunday and then I may have possibly eaten ten pieces of chocolate for breakfast Monday morning.  Yeah, it wasn't my finest moment.  It might have been ok but I knew all week that Saturday Aaron and I had a date night planned so I indulged on a hamburger Saturday night also.  I figured Sunday and Monday I'd eat healthy and the one bad meal would not effect me too much.  I guess not being able to foresee the future I was wrong. 

But I am happy to report that Mr. Scale did not punish me too badly for my choices and my hardwork the rest of the week has paid off.  He said, 226.8.  That's right, I'm out of the 230's and down 3.2 lbs.  It was a good week weight loss wise.

I think I am also lucky this week.  I very much lacked the exercise area of my regimen this week.  I think it was lack of motivation and the fact that the band on my EA Sports Active broke.  I need to pick up a new band at Target asap!  Hopefully I can get my motivation back and continue to have successful weeks!

Still Here

Sorry no food journal updates. I am unfortunately to preoccupied to eat or at least blog what I eat. We took Parker to the ER yesterday for a high fever and he wasn't eating much. They decided to admit him. Long story short he was dehydrated, has slight bronchiolitis, double ear infections and until late last night we were unable to get his fever down. He is sleeping on Aaron as I type and drank 5 oz. of milk just a while ago. Hopefully this means we are on the up and up and can go home later today.

When it gets less crazy I will be back with a couple updates.

MGM - Food Journal (Friday)

Sorry this is a day late, I took advantage of an easy night at home and went to bed early without blogging.  Yesterday was a day filled with snacking and although I am lucky that Mr. Scale did not punish me I need to remember not to eat out of boredom.
So here goes...

Breakfast:
Egg-mug - I tried to use lots of veggies and other add ins to make this even better but you know what they say about fixing something that's not broken, it was not too tasty today and probably had close to the 200 calorie mark!  I'm going back to tradition Monday.
Iced coffee - 165 calories

Snacks throughout the day:
1/2 avocado
Fuji Apple
Fiber 1 bar
Candy bar (yes, my craving for chocolate caused me to grab a candy bar at Target.  I was the one picking up each bar I liked and viewing the calories.  Who does that?  Apparently me.  I feel better now that I got rid of my craving and also that I didn't buy the valentine bag that was on sale and was really a better deal.  I know I don't have enough self control to buy a bag and not eat it, so I stuck to the one candy bar) 180 calories.

Lunch:
Pasta with marinara sauce

Dinner:
Peanut butter and jelly tortilla, a new favorite.

MGM - Food Journal (Thursday)

Whew... I'm full.  Maybe this full isn't such a good thing.  Here goes nothing!

Breakfast:
Coffee/Milk drink - 110 calories
Egg-mug - I used a whole egg today instead of just egg whites so there were added calories - 200 calories

Lunch:
Lean cuisine panini - 360 calories
String cheese - 70 calories
1/4 avocado - 65 calories

Snack:
Fuji apple - 80 calories

Dinner:
Parmesan chicken with some angel hair pasta and sauteed zuchinni and squash.  I didn't calculate the calories but man it was a filling dinner and I probably should have eaten less, lesson learned, use small plates, they look fuller!

MGM - Food Journal (Wednesday)

WARNING: Today will be the first day for you to see one of those "bad" items that I told you usually lead me to skip food journaling. 
Breakfast:
Large egg-mug (it wasn't necessarily bigger but had more ingredients so it was more calories) ~ 200 calories

Snack:
Fuji apple - 80 calories

Lunch:
Barbecue chicken sandwich (It was chicken breasts cooked in barbecue sauce in the crock pot.  I don't have the exact calories but I'll guess on what I think is the high side) ~ 600 calories

Afternoon snack: (Jessica, here you go, call me out!)
Chocolate cake - Bazillion calories.  Actually I have no idea how many calories it had but I did take off the side and top whipped icing because if I'm going to blow calories on icing it's going to be buttercream.  However the mocha filling inside went straight to my belly!  It was a co-workers birthday and the cakes always come from the same bakery and this combination, chocolate/mocha, is one of my favorites.

Dinner:
Peanut Butter and Jelly Tortilla wrap - 350 calories

So my day was higher in calories than I would have liked but I am not at all disappointed.  I knew going into today that I would be having the cake and that I would food journal it.  I think having to write it down helped me to decide my portion, to ditch the icing and to be able to put it all out there.  I feel good about this.

MGM - Food Journal (Tuesday)

Yup, this might actually be working!

Breakfast:
McDonald's sugar free iced coffee - large (I also planned on making my egg-mug but then got slightly, ok really irritated and lost my appetite for that, but hey, calories saved!) 120 calories

Morning snack:
Fuji apple - 80 calories

Lunch:
Turkey sandwich - 450 calories

Afternoon snack:
Banana (told you I usually eat fruit!) - 110 calories
2 croutons - no idea on calories, I just needed SOMETHING!

Dinner:
Lean cuisine panini (Aaron isn't home this evening, he had a conference in LA, so I was on my own and cooked Parker some pasta instead of making myself dinner and by the time he was done eating I was HUNGRY and ready for something... fast) - 340 calories

The Verdict - Week 18

18 weeks in and I finally met my second goal.  Never did I think it would take this long, however never did I really think I'd have weeks where I'd *gasp* have weight gains.  Now at this point in the journey though I am happy with where I am at thus far!  I am exercising, eating healthier and also not depriving myself.  I think that is the key to longevity.  If you cut everything out you have a higher chance at quitting all together.  I feel like the slow and steady path is working for me!

The weight that I'm about to post is actually from yesterday.  I knew I was not going to be home this morning to weigh myself so I decided that yesterday's weight would be close enough and that way I wouldn't be posting a day late!  So yesterday Mr. Scale said 230 lbs on the dot.  That is a 2.4 lb. loss for this week and it means I met my 25 lbs. lost goal, YES!

I am so excited to have finally reached this goal and I think it will help me stay on track this week also!  I am still writing down what I eat and then food journaling on here this week and so far it has helped me to make better choices.  Knowing I have to write it down for the whole world internet to see really helps me stay on track, I love it!

Any ideas what my "prize" for my next goal of 40 lbs. should be?  I'm still thinking!  Let me know if you have any thoughts!

MGM - Food Journal (Monday)

So I decided for Mini Goal Monday that I would just post one post each day of what I ate as today has already been a post heavy day!

Breakfast:
Coffee/Milk drink 165 calories (Instead of just 1 cup I needed an extra 1/2 cup this morning!)
Egg mug 150 calories

Lunch:
1/2 turkey meatball as a sample at costco (told you I was writing EVERYTHING down) 30 calories
Turkey and cranberry sandwich 450 calories
String cheese 70 calories

Snack:
One 100 calorie pack twinkie (I was seeing if Parker liked it and he didn't so I decided to try it, it wasn't that great!) 33 calories

Dinner:
Stuffed pepper (I'm still looking for a good recipe as this was somewhat bland) 420 calories
Green salad (I honestly did not calculate but lots of veggies with light dressing can't be too bad, right? Right!)

There was my day in calories, I think writing everything down is going to help me! (And I also just realized I ate no fruit today, that is NOT like me! Oh wait, I ate like 2 grapes at my mom's house, forgot to put those in, but it was a little, and I mean little, bit of fruit!)

Notice Anything

UPDATE: You guys are so smart!  Yes, my header has changed from saying Weight Loss Ahead, Next Goal 25 lbs, to saying 40 lbs.  You know what that means?  I FINALLY made my goal of losing 25 lbs., and I get to enjoy Simply Fondue!  I'll post more details later this afternoon when I do my weekly verdict post!

Different?? :-)

A New Love

I have found a new love.  Well I've known about them for a while, but I have just fell in love with them on Friday!  Any guesses on who it is?? 

Hungry Girl (HG)!

Yes, I am in love with Hungry Girl! 

And the reason for my new love affair?  The egg-mug.  You see, I am a breakfast girl.  I know this is not news to you, well I'm a food girl, but we're working on that!  My breakfast of choice at work lately have been these.

They are weight watchers breakfast quesadilla's and they are pretty good for just 220 calories.  But when I paired them with this that I like to drink every morning my breakfast was peaking at over 300 calories.  Not that that is awful, but I know when I'm home on the weekends and make an egg white scramble it can be a lot less calories. 

I have tried to make the same scramble at work using the microwave and a steam bag but it was just not ever the same.  Well you see, HG has officially come to my rescue with the Egg-Mug.  The possibilities are endless and HG even lists a ton of them on her site!  You can put in raw veggies with some cooking spray and they soften right up, then add egg substitute (I use egg whites), microwave for a bit longer and then if you desire you can add in cheese and meat.  I tried it out yesterday with some bell pepper and green onions, eggs, sour cream and some salsa.  It was a hit and very filling.  I would say the average one of these is about 130-150 calories and every bit as filling as my quesadilla if not more.  That's 70-90 calories less for breakfast, just what I need!

So seriously go try it out, don't be scared if when you're cooking the egg it puffs up over the top of the mug, HG says this is completely normal.  Once the microwaving is done it goes back down but still has that airy fluffly texture.  I love it!

(On a side note: I do know that making my eggs on a stove top is probably more nutritious as microwaving can take away some of the key nutrients but when I'm at work I don't have a lot of options as we have no kitchen.  I could make and eat the eggs before I leave for work but eating at 6 a.m. will just mean I'm hungry for something else at 9, so this so far is my best option!)

Mini Goal Monday - Food Journaling

Here we are at the beginning of the week again and at the start of my new tradition.  Mini Goal Monday.  Last week I decided to try and drink more water everyday.  My sister even said I might die of drinking so much water, but I did it without dying, mostly!  What I learned from this mini goal is that while at work I easily drank my water and exceeded my goal.  While at home this weekend though, not so much!  This is exactly what I am trying to get out of these goals, to see if I can do it and where I struggle the most.  Now that I know I struggle at home I am going to try harder to drink more water while there.

So this week I will continue to try and drink more water but my Mini Goal for the week is to food journal on this blog everything I eat.  This is going to be difficult for me.  Not necessarily the actual process of doing it, but everytime I try to food journal I cheat.  I don't cheat on what I eat I just don't journal if I ate something bad.  I know this is not logical and this week I will NOT cheat!  Please do not be surprised if one or two (or 10) bad things pop up.  I am nervous about food journaling but I need to do it.  If I can do this I think it will help me so much!  I have read that people who food journal often lose twice the weight of those who don't, and believe me, I need twice the weight!

So while I food journal I will try and include not just the food I eat but also the nutritional information if I have it.  Here's to hoping BOLD food journaling will be exactly what I need to keep losing this weight!

Waterlogged

Mini Goal Monday was an EPIC fail yesterday.  When I posted last night I had a lot more drinking to do and let's guess how much I drank after the post.  Yup, zero!  I actually took a little nap, watched Aaron workout and went to bed. Pretty exciting huh?  No, not really and I didn't meet my goal for yesterday so that stunk!

But today, today is a whole other story!  I have already drank 100 oz., and am feeling waterlogged great!  It is a good feeling when you are successful!  I am hoping I can continue using the restroom every 10 minutes drinking water today and the rest of the days left in the week.  Drinking water makes me feel less hungry when I'm bored and that is always a plus!

On the note of keeping me busy while bored, a sweet friend left me a comment encouraging me to continue to keep drinking the water and to also chew gum.  I know chewing gum keeps your mouth going, gives you flavor and will help you to snack less, but I had forgotten about this trick.  Tonight I am off to pick up some sugar free gum to "munch" on.  Thanks Chance!

The Verdict - Week 17

Here we are, one week into 2010 and 17 weeks into my road to healthy.  I was pretty happy with myself this week, I worked out almost everyday, food journaled some days and ate healthy almost the entire week, but I am disappointed.  I was really really really hoping to get to my next goal today of losing 25 lbs.  I came so close, but still didn't make it.  I know I gave my best effort and I am on the right track but it still frustrated me. 

Mr. Scale said 232.4 this morning.  A loss of 1.8 lbs.  When I didn't meet my goal I was upset but then I needed to remember that a majority of people gain weight during the holiday season from Thanksgiving to New Year's.  I definitely had my ups and downs but overall in that time I lost 3.4 lbs. so although I didn't meet my goal this week I was successful at keeping the weight off during the holidays.  I am proud of myself for that. 

My Mini Goal Monday continued today and I still have a lot to drink.  I am going to be using the restroom all night if I succeed, but it will probably be worth it, I know drinking water is key in my journey.  I am hoping that I will fully surpass my goal by next week's weigh in, we'll see!

Mini Goal Monday

I decided in the middle of last week that I am going to be doing something new.  I have found that I do my best in most things if I give myself a goal.  Last week I said I needed to drink more water but I didn't hold myself accountable.  I need something to hold me accountable!  Goals gives me something to reach for and I am most successful this way.  My weight loss journey is no different.  That is why I have set goals for myself with rewards.  My first goal of losing 15 lbs. got me this BEAUTIFUL blog design.  My next goal is 25 lbs. which I am very very very close to.  When I achieve this I will reward myself with a dinner at my favorite restaurant, Simply Fondue.  These are big challenges I have set for myself and I feel good when I meet them!

Starting today and continuing each Monday from here on out I will give myself a mini goal for the week.  There will be no reward (well, except for a pat on the back) but it gives my something to strive for.

Some ideas I have thought of are:
Drinking more water EVERY day!
Exercising for at least 30 minutes 5 out of the 7 days of the week
Not going out to eat at all for an entire week
Blogging what I eat everyday for the week (i.e. food journaling)
Trying a new healthy recipe every night for dinner

These are just some of the options I have in my head for what I can do to help myself be more successful.  More success in small goals equals more success in larger goals, right?  Right!

This weeks Mini Goal Monday is to drink more water every day.  I did not measure how much I drank today but I know it was over 80 oz.  My goal from here on out, which I will take a premeasured bottle tomorrow, is to drink at least 100 oz. every day.  I will report back next Monday and let you know how I did as well as tell you my next mini goal!

Do you have a mini goal that you'd like to be successful at this week (re: weight loss or not, either way!?) Do share!

The Verdict - Week 16

Well it is the new year and a new week for a verdict post!  My friend Sarah and I often text/facebook each other to see how we're doing.  Well let's just say for the last month our little joke has been about losing our "wagon."  I told her I fell of my wagon, she text me saying she can't find where she parked hers etc., it's just a little reminder of the road we're on and nice to have some encouragement. 

Well yesterday I sent her a comment on facebook letting her know I found my wagon, and boy do I hope it's true!  (Sarah if you're reading this and you need me to search every parking lot to find yours I'll be right there!)  I am done with the holidays, done with having crappy weeks and ready to just be good!  I am going on a cruise in less than 10 months and I would like to look stunning.  I started this blog in September thinking I had a year to do it but then ended up booking the cruise a month later due to scheduling etc., but one thing that got me inspired was when I told Aaron about losing weight we talked about a dress size and when I told him my goal (size 14) he said he'd be proud of me.  Not that I don't think he's proud of me everyday but what an encouragement and a push to do it! 

So this week I just have a baby wagon that I am on, but I'll take it.  Mr. Scale said 234.2 this morning which is a loss of .4 lbs.  Although it's a loss I would definitely like to see a larger number next week!  Some things I realized I need to work on is drinking water when I am hungry.  The other day I had posted on facebook about being hungry and a friend said "time to drink water," and after I read it I kind of had a DUH! moment.  Why didn't I think of that?  Well because I haven't been making it a good habit lately, so this week that is a mini goal of mine, drink more water!

I am still doing the EA Sports Active workouts and still enjoying getting through them.  Aaron usually does a workout on there after me and it's nice that we are doing this together!